Dulce et Decorum Est: Rude Awakenings
by Chepis
Summary: I had a sudden feeling that I had entered a different dimension. And I was scared.I browsed information about Witches and magical people. I became addicted to them. I began to crave those powers. I wanted those powers. Soon it became my existance.
1. The Real Name

Never wish for something you are not entirely prepared for. Life is fair, you have the life you have because, well, because you can cope with it. As a catholic I was raised surrounded by the 7 sins. Do not envy what the other have. Do not disobey your parents. Do not kill. Do not, do not, do not. All don'ts. I never really felt like I belonged to this family, my family. I guess the cause for this was the way I was treated as the Black Sheep. I would never have what it took to be a real blooded Plate-Morean. That's what my father said. It seems all he could see in me was faults. The truth is, that's how I see myself. As a fault. As a mistake. And even though my life seemed to have changed for the best, I still feel like an unwanted human being. I was borne to a woman and a man. I never knew their names; all I knew was a life very different to the one I was supposed to have. My parent's names were James Charles Plate and Pristine Charlotte Morean. I was the last or 5 children, and the first memory I have is of my older brother yelling at me the word 'Bastard'. I never understood why I was so unwanted. Surely I wasn't ugly at all. Although, to them, I was. They all had black hair and green eyes. They were all 'beautiful'. And I was ugly, just because I had silver-white blonde hair and grey eyes. I was beautiful to everyone but them. The real Plate-Morean.  
  
"I wish I had my real family by my side" This was repeated over and over for the last 16 birthdays I had. It never came true, and I started to believe that my real parents were gone for good and I would be stuck with this family forever. How wrong I was.  
  
It all started with our trip to Belgium for the winter break. We stopped at Witches for a day or two, I can't remember. And as always I had been left behind on my own. Inevitably, I got lost and ended up in a very dull neighborhood. Odd people walked down the streets holding cauldrons and owls. They were all dressed in tunics and wore pointed hats. I had a sudden feeling that I had entered a different dimension. And I was scared. Scared of the unknown. And because I was alone. I continued walking and reached the main plaza. A statue stood in the middle of it, a woman was being burned in a hood while a hawk looked from afar. A caption underneath the statue read: To those who perished under the unfairness of Muggles. While I stood there, thinking what on Earth a Muggle was an old man approached me. And I swear to the heavens I will never forget what he said to me. He said, "Sad isn't it? The way that we, witches and wizards have been chased by those who cannot understand the gift of magical powers". I cannot explain what I felt, a collision of emotions cursed through my body as this man told me witches and wizards weren't part of children stories made up to scare us. They were real. They existed.  
  
Since that day I browsed and browsed information about Witches and magical people. I became addicted to them. I began to crave to have those extraordinary powers. I wanted those powers as bad as I wanted to meet my real parents. And suddenly, in my 16th birthday the impossible happened. I was rescued. I was told, after many years of waiting and hoping, my real name. Alexandra Victoria Malfoy. 


	2. The Newfound Reflection

The image reflected from the mirror showed 16 year old Katrina under the covers of her bed. There she lay, breathing as calmly as she could, trying hard not to suffocate by the lack of fresh air. 

'Suffocation is at least a better idea, than to listen to all that noise' she thought. 'Happy freaking sweet sixteen, Kat'

Katrina lay still, trying her best to fall asleep. She tossed and turned for almost five minutes when with an exasperated sigh, she sat, pushed off the covers of her bed and stood up. Quietly as she could she walked towards the blazing chimney in her room and sat by the fire. She watched the red and dark orange flames dance in an unknown pattern. 

'If only I could be someone else, or at least, they could be different people… then maybe life would make sense' she thought. 

Life had never been easy for her. Try to imagine growing up in a private school where everyone knew you were adopted. Try growing up being a complete academic failure compared to your siblings. Try growing up being a soccer fanatic, while your posh family just loved rugby.  Or even worse, try growing up in the United States of America, having an English accent. Oh, yes, Katrina knew life wasn't supposed to be easy; but she had the funny feeling that her life was a complete screw up. As if life was laughing straight into her face and still, she was oblivious to it. 

Laughs could be heard from the corridor, people were having fun while she was almost in the beginning of a depression. And no one cared.

"They just can't be bothered with poor Katrina, can't they?" she whispered bitterly. She slowly stood up and grabbed her Palm from the bedside table. After logging into her calendar she marked the days until her 21st birthday. The day she would be able to leave this house, and the family concealed within it. As she did this she couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness. 

"If only someone truly cared about me I wou-" but she never had a chance to finish, as she let out a deafening scream.

Somehow out of nowhere an old man had appeared in her room. And was pointing his arm and finger at her.

Suddenly the laughter could not be heard anymore, and the noise of feet invaded the now quiet house. The door of her room was opened with a slam and her whole family came inside.

"What on Earth is wrong with you?! Why do you have to spoil an splendid evening?" her mother asked, outraged.

"Of course not, mother. She has always been a spoiled brat," one of her sisters said, "Why? Can't you stand the fact that some people are capable of having a good time without your presence?"

Katrina stood speechless. Couldn't they see the man standing right in front of them? As she thought this, the old man spoke, directly to her.

"It seems they are too busy to notice me, Katrina. Is that the name they gave you?"

Katrina nodded and then looked at her family. They had noticed the old man, and her father was dialling 911. 

"Oh, I wouldn't do that Mr. Plate. It would be, _useless" the old man said. "I'll stay here for a brief time. I only came to take Katrina away"_

Silence invaded the room. The old man looked at Katrina, she in turn, looked at her parents, and her parents, looked at the old man, horror struck all over their faces.

"Excuse me?" her father finally said. "You came to take my daughter?"

The old man nodded and smiled warmly at Katrina. James Plate started laughing hysterically while pointing at the old man. When he realised the old man wasn't joking, he stopped abruptly. 

"I'm calling the police, you madman. If you like your freedom, then I suggest you remove your unrequested presence from my property!"

Jason, one of her brothers moved forward, and looked downwards at the old man.

"I don't think the police will be needed, Father. Look at him! He must be over his 90s! What can an insignificant, old madman possibly do?"

The old man laughed and his eyes adopted a mischievous glint.

"I know a half-giant who would be very offended if he heard you" he said. And with a fast move his extended arm now held a magic wand. A wand that was directly pointed at Jason.

As soon as Katrina's family saw this they couldn't hold it. It was too ridiculous. 

"How dare you come into my house, threaten _me with taking away my daughter and then try to make me back down with a _magic wand_?" James raged. "What kind of nonsense is this?" Suddenly he looked at Katrina and moved towards her. _

"You. Explain this. What are you trying to do? Makes us _love you?"  Katrina looked silently at him, expecting more. His father never quite addressed her if he didn't have a lecture folded out where he reminded her of what a waste she was. She knew more was coming. And she was right- " You let this lunatic inside the house, didn't you? How dare you put my family in danger! But, how could I expect less from you? You will never be a real Plate-Morean! I should have known the day you mother convinced me of adopting an unwanted child, that you would be no good! You do not have the blood, kid. So you will never be good enough" _

The last words stung in her heart, even though she had been said that since she could remember. But somehow, this time, she was truly hurt. And as she began to think how alone she was, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw the old man's reassuring smile.

"Wh-Who are you?" she whispered.

"My name is Albus Dumbledore. And I'm the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry"

Katrina kept looking at him, her eyes opened wide. Had she heard him all right?

"Why?" she asked. She wanted to ask why he was here, in her room. But all she could muster was the first word of the unsaid sentence.

"Why?" Albus Dumbledore repeated, a tone of laughter hidden in his voice. "Katrina, maybe you should sit down. And your family could do so too. It seems you are all in for a big surprise" With that said, he flickered his wand and seven chairs appeared from thin air. Everyone in the room let out a gasp. And maybe for the first time, James Plate knew he was not the one in control. Nevertheless, everyone sat down.

Albus Dumbledore smiled at them, as if they were his students and he was about to teach the hardest subject of them all. 

"Sixteen years ago the wizarding world was struck by the kidnap of a newborn. The baby had been stolen from her own crib only days after her birth. She was the first child of a wizard and a witch, and her parents had eagerly awaited her. Even though the Earth was searched numerous times, the baby was never found. It seemed she had disappeared form the face of the Earth".

Katrina was hypnotised by this man. Albus Dumbledore. She couldn't stop the eye contact she had found herself in since the appearance of this man in her bedroom- "The parents were told to give up hope, the Aurors and the Ministry of Magic were positive the baby was dead. And so they did, they gave up hope and decided to move on, and a year later, they had a baby boy."

"And what does this lovely story has to do with Katrina?" James cut off.

Dumbledore smiled at him and then looked warmly at Katrina.

"Tell me, Katrina. Haven't you ever felt like you don't _fit in?" he asked her._

Katrina thought about it. There were times when the impossible happened or when she just couldn't be bothered to learn her maths or physics. But she had always thought that it was because she was horrible in almost every subject. But now that this man asked… she knew… she was always treated as a freak.

"Yes… I never felt like I fitted in, specially in this family" she whispered hoarsely. 

"Tell me about it" Dumbledore told her.

Katrina took a deep breath and avoided looking at her parents.

"I always felt I couldn't be bothered with school. As if, everything I had to learn had no possible value for my future. As if I should be learning something else. And, every time I got mad, things would happen. Once, Carmella was watching a horror movie, and I was scared, she wouldn't turn it off. And as my fear increased, so did my anger. And suddenly, the electricity went out for two days" She looked at Dumbledore, trying to see if she was making any sense- "But that was a coincidence" she added quickly, as if trying to explain herself.

"No it wasn't" Dumbledore said. "You made the electricity go out. Because you were very angry. Katrina, you are a witch. And even though you had no magical training, you were able to shut down the electricity for two days" 

Katrina looked at Dumbledore as if a third arm was growing out of his ear. 'What is he saying? That I'm a witch? How can that be possible?' Suddenly memories came flooding back. The encounter in Witches, Belgium. That had to explain it all. How else could she have entered this village, if she hadn't been a witch? All the times things had gone wrong for her family, things she had wished for, suddenly happened. All the time she would spend reading about witches and wizards. It all made sense. As crazy as it sounded, it all fitted perfectly. Katrina was a witch and therefore, her wish had come true.

"I'm a witch!" she exclaimed, smiling to herself. "Does that mean, sir, that I'll join you in our world?" she asked eagerly. Suddenly the possibility of leaving her 'family' was bigger by the minute that went by.

"Your real family has searched for you since the day you were stolen. And even though they are not one of my favourite families in the wizarding world, I must take you to them. You need to join them and start knowing the world you were supposed to grow up in" 

James Plate suddenly stood up, and with a semi trembling finger, pointed at Dumbledore in what he thought it was a threatening pose.

"She will not, and I mean it, leave this house! She is my daughter, and therefore I decide her fate!" he raged at both Dumbledore and Katrina.

Dumbledore kept quiet, looking at James with a funny expression. Katrina, on the other hand wasn't adopting Dumbledore's pose. Her fists were clenched and her jaw was contracted.

"I knew she was a mistake! Look at her; she is a witch, an ugly freak. A poor excuse of a human being" her mother exclaimed. "After all we did for-"

"I am not a mistake! You are a mistake! After you did what, mother? Neglect me? Mentally abuse me? I was never good enough just because I didn't have your stupid blood. Well, guess what, I am a witch, so don't mess with me, because you never know what I'm capable of doing. You can't stop me, or Albus Dumbledore. After all, you always wanted me gone. So why stop me now? I am leaving, whether you like it or nor. Witch or not witch. But just remember," Katrina said, taking a deep breath, looking at her astounded family, "_You were never good enough. You never were, you'll never be"_

After the speech she turned around and looked at Dumbledore. In return, he smiled at her.

"You so resemble your father, physically and mentally, Alexandra"

"Why did you call me Alexandra?" Katrina asked.

"Because," Dumbledore said with a smile, "That's what your parents named you. Alexandra Victoria Malfoy"

"Alexandra Victoria Malfoy" Katrina repeated, tasting the sound of her real name, "I like the way it sounds" And then looking at her adopted family, she added, "Did you hear that, Muggles? _My name_ is Alexandra Victoria Malfoy! Not Katrina Plate-Morean. Remember the name, never let it slip out of your mind, because I will make great things, and you will hear of them. Mark my words, _you will_"

As she said this a frightening glint took over her grey eyes. And somehow, even Dumbledore became uneasy about it. 

'Could it be, that a name conceals the power of a mind?' he asked himself as he looked at Alexandra.


End file.
